July 2010

A new baby elephant at the UK's Chester Zoo has caused a stir of excitement among keepers, visitors and the other elephants alike. The male calf has been named Nayan meaning "eye" in Hindi. Born close to midnight on Sunday, July 18th, the little elephant has been exploring his new home while staying close to his mother, Sithami.

Just this week, the French zoo Jardin des Plantes debuted two playful female Clouded Leopard cubs named Pati and Jaya. Born back in May, the zoo held off on announcing the births until they were certain mother and cubs were all in good health. Population estimates for the Clouded Leopard are challenging because the shy cats are so good at avoiding detection, but it is known that they are threatened by habitat loss and poaching in their native home of Southeast Asia.

Hamton the pig had a busy spring at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo, cozying up with not one but two charming Guinea Hog sows, Jodie and Olivia. This past week, both sows gave birth to big litters, eight and six respectively, making Hamton the proud father of fourteen little piglets! Guinea Hogs are a domestic breed that was once the most prevalent in the American Southeast, but today their are only about 200 individuals left.

A mixed-up monkey is confusing visitors at ZSL London Zoo after taking a shine to another species’ baby. Maternal Juanita, a golden-headed lion tamarin, has adopted an emperor tamarin baby - much to the surprise of zookeepers.

The surrogate mum, who jumps around the zoo’s Rainforest Life exhibit with the two-month-old baby on her back, started taking an interest in her neighbours’ baby just weeks after it was born. The baby emperor tamarin, who is grey and already sporting the start of an adult’s signature white moustache, was first seen clinging on to Juanita’s fiery orange mane, a month after it was born. Emperor tamarins, native to South America, are usually brought up by their fathers who carry them until they are old enough to fend for themselves.

Senior keeper, Lucy Hawley, said: “At first the father of the emperor tamarin baby was a little nervous about Juanita – but now they all seem to get along just fine. “Juanita has never had a baby before so it seems like her mothering instinct has just kicked in this time around… who knows what animal she’ll be carrying around next.”

ZooBorns contributor Nikon Doll captured these shots of the Maryland Zoo's baby Rock Hyraxes last week. Rock Hyraxes use "sentries" - one or more inidividuals which warn of approaching danger from a high vantage point. Although they might look like rodents, they are actually a fairly close relative of elephants and manatees! That being said, for relatives of manatees, the video below proves they are pretty speedy!

Have you ever laid in bed at night wondering if somewhere else on Earth, a little Ring-tailed Lemur shares the exact same name as you? Or perhaps you have been searching for the perfect birthday gift for that hard to buy for Ring-tailed Lemur obsessive in your life. Well the search is over. Now you can bid on the opportunity to name not one, but both of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's new little lemur twins! Born back in April, it's about time the little tykes got proper names. In addition to selecting the names, the winning bidder will also get to meet the lemurs as well as their keepers. All proceeds go to benefit Durrell's conservation work.

So what are you waiting for? Naming a lemur makes the perfect bar mitzvah gift. And how better to say "I love you" for a special anniversary than by naming a lemur after your wife? Join the bidding on eBay or read more about the contest on the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust site.

We're sorely tempted to name one "ZooBorns.com" but you gotta figure the little guy would be mercilessly teased in lemur elementary school.

Eel? Worm? Baby sea-monster? Actually Caecilians are amphibians like frogs and salamanders, but they lack any limbs and their eyes are tiny or non-existent. Most caecilians live underground in moist soil but Aquatic Caecilians, like these babies born at the Tennessee Aquarium July 18th, spend their lives wriggling within swamps, ponds and lakes.

While nearly all caecilians have lungs including Aquatic Caecilians, this species is also born with frilly, external gills, which can clearly be seen in the pictures below. The gills detach from the animal’s body shortly after getting its first breath of air from the surface. We recommend watching the video to see these bizarre critters in action.

Nebraska's Lincoln Children’s Zoo announced the hatching of two rare birds on July 15. These East African Crowned Cranes chicks were the first babies for the two parents, mother Naivasha (Na-Vash-A) and father Nukuru (Na-KU-Roo). They arrived at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo in the spring of 2007. You can tell the couple apart because Naivasha has additional red markings on her cheeks.

Two weeks ago we brought you the announcement of two new Snow Leopards born at the Cape May County Zoo in New Jersey. Today we share their video debut as they make one big noisily adorable spectacle of themselves.

A reminder - The zoo is holding a naming contest for the two cubs and you can submit your names for the cubs by sending an email to info@capemaycountyzoo.org (include your name, age, address, phone number, email and cub names). You may also submit your names in person at the zoo. To learn more about the contest and to see posted entries, visit the contest web page.

Over the last few weeks we brought you installments number one and number two of the Pallas' Cat kittens' progress at the Wildlife Heritage Foundation. Now seven weeks old, today we bring you the third installment in the trilogy in which the kittens venture out of their den in earnest and start exploring.